Compared Mailchimp and ConvertKit for 6 months and the difference was brutal

I run a small email list for my side hustle, about 1,200 people. Started with Mailchimp because it's what everyone knows. After 3 months my open rates were dropping and I was spending like 40 bucks a month for features I barely used. Switched to ConvertKit and in the first month my open rate jumped from 18% to 31%. The tagging system alone saved me hours. Not saying Mailchimp is garbage but for a solo creator with a small list ConvertKit just works better. Has anyone else switched platforms and seen a huge jump?

2 comments

2 Comments

sean_murray11d ago

You mentioned the tagging system alone saved you hours. What kind of tags are you using that made that big a difference? I'm with Mailchimp now and my open rates are sitting around 15% on a similar sized list. Just curious if it's the platform itself or if you changed how you actually write the emails too.

rowan66611d ago

Read something somewhere that tagging actually trains the algorithm on who your engaged readers are. So when you send a broadcast to a tag about like "ebook buyers" the platform knows those people open stuff and prioritizes delivering to them first. That alone probably explains the open rate jump more than anything else. Mailchimp's audience system just treats everyone the same bucket, which kills deliverability for small lists over time.